Connect Systems: Product Line Overview

Jerry of Connect Systems posted the following to the CS7000 Yahoo Group:

"CS580: This radio was designed to be in direct competition to the MD380 radio but have the advantage of being much easier to use because of a few new features we added. We sold over 100 radios before it was officially released and we have about 200 radios left before we have to order more. It takes at least 30 days from placing an order to receiving more radios. We have already received follow on orders from some of the people who have ordered the first batch of radios. It cost $130 each.

CS750: We reduced the price from $239 to $180. At this price, it is a competitor to the Tytera products but you get a better radio with more features. After the CS760 is stabilized, we will be adding more features to this radio as well as fixing any remaining problems.

CS760: This is the follow on to the CS750 series of radios. Besides having the features of the CS750, it has optional Bluetooth, GPS, Man Down, and vibrator. Its IP67 rated (waterproof) and has a color display. It will have the ability to be compliant with ETSI Standard Tier III. Being a new radio with new features now and more new features in the future, you can expect this radio to have frequent firmware updates both to fix bugs and to add new features. It was originally scheduled to ship December 1, then December 10, and now December 19. The basic radio cost $299 and with all the options it cost $399.

CS800: This is our single band UHF mobile (Available in VHF). After the CS760 is stabilized, we will be adding more features to this radio as well as fixing any remaining problems.

CS800D: This is a dual band CS800. I expect the VHF band to be the same as the CS801 and the UHF band to be extended to 512 MHz. It is initially going to be released as an amateur product but later we will get it part 90 certified. We do not have our cost yet but I am hoping the selling price will be $100 more than the single band CS800. We have preliminary schematics and we have a target of getting a working sample shipped by January 23, 2017 to show at the various amateur shows and production starting about two months later.

CS108G+: This is a Xiegu X108G with custom firmware to include a spectrum analyzer and an ID Timer. It covers all the HAM bands from 160 meters to 10 meters. We expect to get our first shipment next week.

CS7000/CS8000: This is a single band multi-protocol (DMR, DSTAR, Analog, and others) radio. We are still working on it but I will not give a definite date for initial shipments.

E-Commerce Web Site: Connect systems now has an online store where you can order most of our Amateur Products 24 hours a day. Please look carefully at the product description to see if in stock. The site is at csi-radios.com. It can also be reached from our main site of connectsystems.com"

Connect Systems CS7000: Update

I've been following the development of the CS7000 (and the mobile CS8000), but not published much about it. Jerry sent this update a while back to the CS7000 Yahoo Group:

"I got some good new and bad news about the project. Being good or bad depends upon your perspective.

The good news is I will be able to put in full DMR capability fairly rapidly. The bad news is I had to take out the WiFi Capability in this version of the radio.

After speaking to some experts in the field of Software Defined Radios, it was determined that my existing hardware design had a small chance of ever doing DMR. The reason had to do with the Error correcting code of DMR verses the other formats. DMR uses a technology called "Turbo" while all the other formats use a technology called "Convolution". If I wanted to do DMR as a software defined radio I would either need a fast DSP processor or have a DMR baseband chip like what is used in the CS700.

The best solution to have a combination DMR and D-STAR radio was to add the DMR baseband chip like was used in the CS700 and change the hardware design so it looks very very close the existing CS700. While this approach is the more expensive approach, it will allow me to incorporate DMR into the CS700 very rapidly. Possibly even before the D-STAR. 

Because I had to add a fairly substantial size chip along with the AMBE 3000R, there was no more room for the WiFi module. Possibly in a future version of the CS7000 I will put back the WiFi module.

The hardware has now been redesigned and I submitted it to the manufacturer for review to make sure he can build it. The software is progressing smoothly although there is substantial work to take into account the new hardware design.

I will be able to put in the WiFi in future versions by a careful mechanical design of the electronics. Probably use Hybrid circuitry to reduce the size. I might at that time also incorporate Blue Tooth and GPS along with the WiFi if I can get the parts I need.

May also be able to do a multi band design. For now I am concentrating on getting the first version of the CS7000 finished with both D-STAR and DMR capability.

Jerry Wanger KK6LFS"

CS8000 Mobile

CS8000 Mobile:

"The CS8000 (Mobile version of CS7000) when it is released next year will probably come in three flavors: 

1. UHF
2. VHF
3. Dual Band 

There is plenty of room in the mobile to have two independent R.F. sections. It will have a removable head like the CS800. 

Jerry Wanger KK6LFS"